Born James Franklin McIngvale, he is popular as Mattress Mack, is an American businessman who is notable for owning and running the Gallery Furniture retail chain.
In this article, we will cover Mattress Mack’s net worth, early and personal life, career highlights, and many more.
Mattress Mack’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the estimated net worth of Mattress Mack is $300 million. He is also popular for making huge bets on sports games, especially on the Houston Astros.
Mack’s bets usually include promotions at his stores where customers are entitled to get their money back for mattresses they bought recently if the Astros win. Then, he makes large wagers on the Astros to limit the promotion cost.
Early and Personal Life
Mack was born in Starkville, Mississippi on February 11, 1951. He went to Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas and North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas, in Denton where he played football. The couple has four kids together.
Career
In 1981, Mack started Gallery Furniture with his life savings of $5,000 from his pickup truck. The business developed steadily during the initial months and years, but following the oil industry struck tough times, and so did almost every retail business in Texas.
Jim invested his last $10,000 in 1983 in a series of local TV commercial spots. While shooting for one of those spots was going on, he was annoyed when cameras were rolling and moved to take money out of his pockets whilst announcing “Gallery Furniture saves you money!”.
That phrase became a hit with audiences and would apparently become his trademark catchline.
During its initial days, the company targeted low-end, less expensive furniture however, branched out into higher-end lines over time.
Currently, Gallery Furniture is one of the most-successful independent furniture retailers in the US. As per 2005 reports, the company made revenue of $200 million in a year. In 2015, an updated report showed revenue of about $150 million per year.
Sports Refunds and Bets
The company ran a promotion for Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 that offered a refund on any purchase above $6,000 if the Seattle Seahawks won. As the Seahawks won, Mack refunded a reported amount of $7 million of furniture purchases.
Mack is a huge fan of the Houston Astros and is known for making massive bets on the team. In 2017, after the Astros won the World Series, he refunded $10 million on customer purchases.
During the start of the 2019 season, Mack carried out a promotion where customers would get a refund of any mattress set bought for up to $3000 that season.
This created a liability worth $20 million as the Astros won the World Series. In order to decrease his potential losses, Mack started making bets that the Astros would win the series. By October 2019, the night of game 6, he had bet $13 million upon a series of bets. The Astros apparently were beaten in the series, which cost Mack $13 million.
As it was mentioned earlier in the piece, before the Astros encountered the Braves in the 2021 World Series, Jim bet $3.45 million at a half dozen sportsbooks on the Astros to gain victory. If the Astros are successful, the payout would generate a profit of $35.6 million.
Jim also reported his store refund promotion would cost him a bit more than $20 million. Many sportsbooks indeed gave to cash out his bets prior to the World Series began, at a lower valuation. Mattress Mack refused all the offers.
2022 Super Bowl Bet
It was confirmed that Jim had put $4.5 million on the Cincinnati Bengals in early February 2022 in order to defeat the LA Rams at Super Bowl LVI. He placed the bet through the Caesars Sports Book app and it was the biggest mobile wager ever put to that extent.
He indeed had to load the bet up in $20,000 increments due to the app’s per-wage thresholds. During the time he made the bet, if the Bengals win, he would generate $7.7 million. In addition, those who made purchases of $3,000 worth of mattress sets of living room furniture would receive a refund.
Jim doubled down on his bet on February 11, betting an additional $5 million on the Bengals. This made the record for the largest single legal sports bet in history. Between the two bets, if the Bengals win, he will earn $16.2 million.
Charity
Mattress Mack allowed his stores to be utilized as shelters for people during the onslaught of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.
Then, in 2019, when the majority of Houston flooded amidst Tropical Storm Imelda, he yet again allowed Gallery Furniture stores to be utilized as shelters and locations for free meal services.
In 2021, during the Texas Power Crisis and Hurricane Ida, Mack allowed his stores for shelters and sources of meals and other emergency amenities, not only in Texas but also at his Louisiana locations.
We will keep you updated with all the latest information until then stay tuned to our website.